The Road to Khazad-Dum
Today Dad planned out a ride on the Wabash Heritage bike trail in Lafayette, Indiana. The whole family got geared up, mounted bikes on the roof, and drove to Lafayette, planning a nice 40ish mile ride to include the Tippecanoe battlefield. Upon reaching the park we unloaded and got ready to go (side note - this is the first ride I've recorded and downloaded on my new Strava app, so now you can follow my training!).
Lafayette's idea of a bike path?
At first the trail seemed to live up to its claims of road-bike friendliness, however we hadn't gone a mile before dark reality set in. Unmarked dirt tracks, complete lack of signage, a runner who knowingly informed us that runners ALWAYS go against traffic (even on a path?!) and this fabulous single board bridge that I was refused the privilege of returning in order to photograph it because apparently damage to our bikes and humanity would be too great, all contributed to this.
Apparently, "road bike" is synonymous with "rugged mountain climber bedecked in soccer cleats and war paint!" Or Legolas.
However, our journey across Middle Earth was not the only epic event in the park that day. A group of valiant warriors was waging foam war on one another in the park:
The foam "boffer" battlefield.
After an 8.9 mile quest through the wilderness, Zoe and I felt justified in interrupting a duel to get a selfie, so here we are, pictured with Aragorn. Or possibly Gimli. Can't be sure which.